From: Paul J. Baicich [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 2008 7:49 AM
To: Paul J. Baicich
Cc: Wayne R. Petersen
Subject: Birding Community E-bulletin - May 2008

 


THE BIRDING COMMUNITY E-BULLETIN
            May 2008
 
 
This Birding Community E-bulletin is being distributed through the generous
support of Steiner Binoculars as a service to active and concerned birders,
those dedicated to the joys of birding and the protection of birds and their
habitats. You can access an archive of past E-bulletins on the website of
the National Wildlife Refuge Association (NWRA):
http://www.refugenet.org/birding/birding5.html
  and on the birding pages for Steiner Binoculars
http://www.steiner-birding.com/bulletin.html
                        
                        
RARITY FOCUS 
 
There were a number of interesting rarities in April, including a
Fork-tailed Flycatcher in eastern Massachusetts, a Flame-colored Tanager in
southeast Arizona, a Gargany in Quebec, a Smew in Alberta, and two Black
Noddies and a Red-footed Booby at the Dry Tortugas in Florida. These were
all worthy of a profile; however, our focus species this month is
White-winged Tern.
 
On 26 April, a White-winged Tern was observed at the north pond of the Ted
Harvey Wildlife Management Area along the Delaware Bay shore. The Ted Harvey
WMA is one of a number of fine birding locations that stretch between Bombay
Hook NWR and Cape Henlopen State Park.
 
White-winged Tern is a species that breeds from Eastern Europe to northeast
China and southeast Siberia; it winters from tropical Africa, the Indian
subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and Australia. It is a rare migrant and
visitor to North America, mostly along the Atlantic coast, with at least
three dozen historical reports, mainly between May and August. It has
actually been seen most often along the Delaware shore, but the species has
also been found at a number of other locations in North America, including
New Brunswick, Ontario, Quebec, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey,
Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Vermont,
California, and Alaska.
 
The White-winged Tern at Ted Harvey WMA was reported to be in the difficult
to discern non-breeding plumage. In this plumage the species closely
resembles the North American Black Tern. (For illustrations see the most
recent National Geographic guide, pages 224-225, the "big" Sibley, page 237,
or the Kaufman Focus guide, pages 86-87.)
 
This White-winged Tern was observed by a number of lucky birders at the
north and south ponds at the Ted Harver WMA most mornings through the end of
the month. 
 
 
CARRIER OWL             
 
On 17 March, a small owl was discovered in the wheel-well of an F/A 18
Hornet strike fighter on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft
carrier "USS Harry S. Truman" (CVN 75). The carrier was at sea during
operations in the Persian Gulf. The bird was examined for injuries and given
a solution of sugar water for mild dehydration. The owl was affectionately
named "Fod" by Navy personnel. FOD is a Navy acronym for "Foreign Object
Damage" and refers to objects or debris found on a flight line or carrier
flight deck that can be sucked into aircraft engine intakes and cause
damage. On 18 March, the owl was taken ashore to an undisclosed location
aboard a delivery aircraft during a scheduled flight and then released. 
 
For more details and an image of the owl, see this official U.S. Navy
website:
http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=56514
 
Originally called a "screech-owl," the species was not positively identified
from the photo. One possibility is that the owl may have been in migration
between the Arabian Peninsula and northeastern areas of the Middle East.
There is some question about whether the owl could have been one of several
closely related Old World scops owl species. See details here: 
http://www.owls.org/Species/otus/striated_scops_owl.htm
                        
                                                            
EARLY REAUTHORIZATION POSSIBLE FOR NEOTROP ACT
 
The Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (NMBCA) originally passed
the U.S. Congress in 2000 and established a competitive, matching grants
program that supports public-private partnerships carrying out projects in
the United States, Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean. These efforts
are designed to meet the growing needs of Neotropical migrant bird species,
many of which are in serious decline. 
 
Hemisphere-wide habitat loss due to deforestation and development, as well
as a number of other human created hazards, threaten the survival of these
Neotropical migrants. Conservation efforts are crucial, and the NMBCA is a
vital source of funding to study and protect these birds. 
 
Between 2002 and 2007, the Act supported 225 projects, coordinated by
partners in 44 U.S. states/territories and 34 countries. More than $21
million from NMBCA grants has leveraged over $95 million in partner
contributions. Projects involving land conservation have positively affected
about 3 million acres of bird habitat. Unfortunately many more requests for
high quality conservation projects are received than can be awarded at the
current funding level.
 
The legislation was originally passed with an authorization of $5 million
per fiscal year, and then in 2006 was reauthorized with a funding level to
increase to $6.5 million over five years. Regrettably, actual appropriated
funding for the program has yet to exceed $4.5 million annually.
 
Representatives Ron Kind (D-WI) and Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD) have recently
introduced a bill (H.R. 5756) for the reauthorization of the act. This would
reauthorize the existing Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act at
significantly higher levels, ultimately to reach $20 million by 2015.
                                                
For background on the value of NMBCA funding, see:
  <http://www.sfbayjv.org/pdfs/NMBCA_General_5-06.pdf>
http://www.sfbayjv.org/pdfs/NMBCA_General_5-06.pdf
 
To help with the NMBCA reauthorization effort, see:
http://www.birdconservationalliance.org/actforsongbirds/index.htm
 
 
NEW JERSEY HORSESHOE CRAB MORATORIUM: GOOD FOR RED KNOTS
 
On a number of previous occasions in this E-bulletin, attention has been
drawn to the research, monitoring, and conservation actions on behalf of the
Red Knot and its connection to one of the species' essential food sources,
the eggs of Horseshoe Crabs. Recent concern has been on the moratorium on
the harvest of Horseshoe Crabs in New Jersey.
 
The harvest moratorium was dropped in February when the NJ Marine Fisheries
Council rejected a recommended moratorium extension on Horseshoe Crab
harvesting that was proposed by the NJ Department of Environmental
Protection. Ten days later, New Jersey legislators introduced a bill that
would ban Horseshoe Crab harvesting in New Jersey. That bill passed in the
full Assembly on 13 March and then passed in the Senate on 18 March. New
Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine signed the new bill into law on 25 March.
 
This legislation was the result of incisive state legislators and
hard-working conservationists (from in-state and out) that propelled this
effort. The new moratorium on harvesting Horseshoe Crabs in the New Jersey
will stay in effect "until the populations of both Horseshoe Crabs and Red
Knots have returned to a level where they will be self sustaining, as
determined by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service." This represents a
landmark piece of legislation for bird conservation.
 
For Governor Corzine's press release, see: 
http://www.state.nj.us/governor/news/news/2008/approved/20080325.html 
 
 
MEANWHILE, IN EUROPE . . .
 
Recent research suggests that many of the birds migrating to Britain and the
European continent from Africa every spring, from Willow and Garden Warblers
to Spotted Flycatchers and Common Cuckoos, are undergoing significant
population declines.
 
The drop in numbers appears to be so sharp and so broad that the possibility
is being considered that the whole system of bird migration between Africa
and Europe may be in crisis. Each spring, millions of birds of nearly 50
species arrive in the UK from their African wintering grounds to breed,
while perhaps as many as five billion arrive in Europe as a whole, before
returning south in the fall. Many species make journeys of thousands of
miles, including crossing the desolate Sahara Desert twice a year. Now,
however, their numbers appear to be tumbling.
 
This problem has recently been outlined in a full statistical account put
together by researchers seeking to understand what is happening and why.
Figures in an unpublished survey produced by the Royal Society for the
Protection of Birds (RSPB) reveal some startling statistics about these
plunging populations. Of the 36 British-African migrant species for which
there is long-term population data (going back to 1967), 21 have declined
significantly. Of these, 11 have suffered declines of more than 50 percent.
Among this 50-percent-plus group, the Spotted Flycatcher, the Tree Pipit and
the Turtle Dove have suffered declines of 84, 83, and 82 percent
respectively. For 42 migrants for which there are short-term population
trends available (going back only to 1995), 23 have declined - 55 percent of
the total. This includes a 30 percent decline for the Common Cuckoo, a 43
percent decline for the Pied Flycatcher, and a 60 percent decline for the
Wood Warbler, in only a 13-year period.
 
No one knows for sure the reasons for these declines, but habitat loss in
Africa and climate change are among the leading suspected causes. The
problems may be along the birds' migration routes, which are full of hazards
just as they are in the Western Hemisphere or on the wintering grounds of
the various species south of the Sahara. Whatever the case, the
Afro-European bird migration system appears to be in a perilous situation. 
 
Ornithologists from across Europe will meet in Germany this month to discuss
both the vanishing migrants, and the possibility of setting up a network of
research stations in Africa to investigate the situation. The meeting, which
will be held at the Radolfzell Bird Observatory on Lake Constance, has been
organized by two scientists, Volker Salewski from Radolfzell and Will
Cresswell from the University of St. Andrews.
 
In the meantime, the RSPB and the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) are
shifting their attention from farmland birds, whose declines due to
intensive agricultural practices have long been a major concern, and
beginning to focus on the startling fall-off in migratory bird populations.
 
 
EU GETS MALTA TO COMPLY
 
Also from Europe, we have bird news from Malta, a tiny Mediterranean state
that joined the European Union (EU) in 2004.
 
On multiple occasions, the European Commission has sent Malta warnings
regarding the practice of spring hunting of wild birds, illegal under the EU
Birds Directive. The EU had opened an infringement procedure against Malta
in June 2006, but Malta continued to allow spring hunting and trapping in
2007.
 
On 25 April, however, Malta finally banned spring bird hunting and trapping
after the European Court of Justice issued a temporary ruling against the
practice in the tiny country.
 
The ECJ issued the interim decision specifically to prohibit hunting of
Turtle Doves and Common Quail, migrating species that stop in Malta on their
northward migration to Europe to breed. The island nation is the only member
state that has allowed spring hunting of these two species in recent years,
both of which are declining rapidly in Europe.
 
A final ECJ ruling is not expected for two or three years.
 
 
IBA NEWS: NEW BERMUDA NATIONAL PARK WITH IBA STATUS 
 
Last month we described the increasingly successful translocation of the
Bermuda Petrel to Nonsuch Island at Castle Harbor, Bermuda. This experiment
is attempting to re-establish a breeding population of this species (also
known as the Cahow) beyond the reach of potential hurricane damage:
 
http://www.refugenet.org/birding/aprSBC08.html#TOC07
 and
http://www.steiner-birding.com/bulletin/april08.html
            
This month, we report that the largest island in Bermuda's Castle Harbor,
part of Bermuda's only Important Bird Area (IBA), is to become the Cooper's
Island National Nature Reserve, and classified as a National Park. The
entire world population of the endangered Bermuda Petrel nests within one
kilometer of Cooper's Island, and the southern promontory of the island is
the only place where this species can occasionally be observed from land. 
 
The 77-acre Cooper's Island is also the site of nesting White-tailed
Tropicbirds and with the other Castle Harbor islands hosts the largest
colonies of this species on Bermuda, at over 600 nesting pairs.
 
Parts of Cooper's Island are still used for potentially non-compatible uses
for a Nature Reserve (e.g., a radar tower, marine communications antenna,
and police firing range) but the Department of Conservation is reportedly
making efforts to limit these impacts.

You can find more details at:
http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2008/03/Coopers_island.html
 
For additional information about worldwide IBA programs, and those across
the U.S., check the National Audubon Society's Important Bird Area program
web site at: 
http://www.audubon.org/bird/iba/
 
 
BOOK REVIEW: SMALL BOOK, HUGE TOPIC
 
In April, John C. Robinson published a little book called BIRDING FOR
EVERYONE, with the subtitle, "Encouraging People of Color to Become
Birdwatchers."
 
Though it's a small book, it addresses a hugely important topic.
 
The author is a long-time birder who has successfully introduced thousands
of people to birds and birding. More importantly, Robinson refuses to be
limited by stereotypes or settle for the status quo. The author has actively
been researching the issue of minorities and birding through the use of
surveys and personal interviews. In this book he pulls together the results
of his research and presents an optimistic view for the future. Because of
the magnitude of this issue, any discussion of the topic is worthy of
examination.
 
For more details on the book:
http://www.onmymountain.com/birdingforeveryone/
 
 
"GABE" HONORED IN VIRGINIA
 
Dr. Ira Noel Gabrielson (1889-1977), pioneer conservationist, distinguished
field ornithologist, renowned author, and tireless civil servant was honored
on 26 April in Oakton, Virginia, with a historic roadside marker situated by
the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.
 
Among his many accomplishments, Ira N. Gabrielson, known as "Gabe" or "Dr.
Gabe" to his colleagues, served as the first director of the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (1940-1946) where he effectively led the agency during its
formative years. He later became the first president of World Wildlife Fund,
and was also the President and Chairman of the Wildlife Management
Institute. For many years he chaired the American Orithologists' Union
Committee on Bird Protection, and he faithfully prepared its annual reports
for publication. He was elected an AOU Fellow in1938. 
 
Gabe's interest in birds and wildlife conservation were reflected in three
major books written during the crucial years of 20th century conservation:
WILDLIFE CONSERVATION (1941), WILDLIFE REFUGES (1943), and WILDLIFE
MANAGEMENT (1951). His major ornithological contributions include BIRDS OF
OREGON (Gabrielson and Jewett 1940) and THE BIRDS OF ALASKA (Gabrielson and
Lincoln 1959), both still considered classics today. He also coauthored
BIRDS: A GUIDE TO THE MOST FAMILIAR AMERICAN BIRDS (Zim and Gabrielson
1949), a very popular introductory guide that has been reprinted many times
(with reportedly over five million copies) and that introduced countless
people to birds.
 
For details on the Oakton, Virginia, marker and ceremony, see:
http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=7433
 
For a fascinating obituary on Gabe from THE AUK, see:
http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Auk/v102n04/p0865-p0868.pdf
 
 
LPBO BANDS 750,000th BIRD
 
The Long Point Bird Observatory (LPBO), at Long Point, Ontario reached a
major milestone on 7 April, becoming the first North American migration
monitoring station to band 750,000 birds. With the banding of a Brown
Creeper LPBO's Old Cut Field Station by Hugh McArthur, a long-time
volunteer, the 3/4-million mark was reached.
 
Researches have been banding birds using standard protocols at LPBO since
1960. As most readers probably know, banding involves placing a uniquely
numbered metal band around a bird's leg. At the same time, information such
as the bird's species, wing length, age, fat content, sex, and weight are
also recorded. After 48 years of research, LPBO houses a vast, diverse, and
valuable data set on North America's migratory birds. Together with the
efforts of other stations in Canada, the U.S., and Central and South
America, the banding information collected has helped identify global ranges
and population trends for hundreds of North American bird species.
 
LPBO is North America's oldest bird observatory, and it will celebrate its
50th anniversary in 2010. More information can be found at:
http://www.birdscanada.org/longpoint/
 
 
IZEMBEK NWR "ROAD TO NOWHERE" PASSES HOUSE COMMITTEE 
 
On 23 April, members of the House Natural Resources Committee approved H.R.
2801, legislation that would allow the construction of a $30 million, U.S.
taxpayer-funded road through Alaska's Izembek National Wildlife Refuge (NWR)
and its Congressionally-designated Wilderness Area. This road would connect
the small communities of King Cove and Cold Bay.
 
Izembek National Wildlife Range was established in 1960 and was designated a
NWR in 1980 to protect the region's extraordinary ecological values and to
potentially safeguard waterfowl, shorebirds, and wetlands of national and
international significance. In 1987 the Reagan Administration recognized
Izembek as a RAMSAR site, the first site so-named by the United States under
the Convention on Wetlands of International Significance. Numerous migratory
birds depend on the refuge, including Steller's Eider, "Black" Brant, and
Emperor Goose, all of which are declining in Alaska.
 
H.R. 2801 has yet to reach the House floor for a vote. (An equally
troublesome companion bill, S. 1680, may yet reach the Senate's Energy and
Natural Resources Committee in early May.) 
 
For background on the proposed road, see this report from the National
Wildlife Refuge Association and the Friends of Alaska National Wildlife
Refuges:
http://www.refugenet.org/new-publications/Izembek.html
 
 
TIP OF THE MONTH: STAY CONNECTED WITH IMBD
 
International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD) 2008 is an ideal opportunity to
celebrate birds and bird conservation. Officially scheduled for 10 May,
events are taking place from Alaska and the Yukon to Central America and the
Caribbean. While most events will take place on 10 May, associated programs,
events, or festivals are actually being celebrated when it best suits
particular localities and the and when the birding is best at each one.
 
Migratory birds, of course, travel long distances between breeding and
non-breeding sites throughout the Western Hemisphere. It is therefore
appropriate that this year's IMBD theme reflects this reality: "From Tundra
to Tropics: Connecting Birds, Habitat, and People."
 
To participate in an IMBD event - or better yet, to take a curious friend to
an event- look at the IMBD "Explorer's Map" to find a celebration close to
where you live: 
http://www.birdiq.com/journey/index.html
 
For more information on IMBD, see:
http://www.birdday.org/
 
 
FARM BILL RESOLUTION?
 
House-Senate negotiators reached a tentative agreement on the long-awaited
Farm Bill on Friday, 25 April. The provisional agreement on a new five-year
Farm Bill was approached after another round of spending and tax cuts, and
the establishment of new customs fees to meet budget rules and to win over
Republicans' support in the Senate.
 
Conservation measures in the Farm Bill are deemed crucial to
bird-and-wildlife protection. Native prairie, certainly one of this
country's most endangered ecosystems, is suffering a heavy loss, since
incentives remain in place encouraging conversion to cropland. (e.g., more
than half a million acres of native prairie were lost nationwide in 2007.) A
proposed provision called Sodsaver is part of the new Farm Bill. It is aimed
at discouraging this destruction by removing crop insurance eligibility and
other subsidies. Even the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), long
considered the centerpiece of Farm Bill conservation, is suffering as rental
rates for the program are being outstripped by commodity prices (e.g.,
rental rates in the Prairie Pothole Region on CRP land average $31 per acre,
while commodity crops are bringing in more than $150 per acre).
 
Details are still pending, and although refinements on some policy issues
are still being made, the optimistic expectation is that Congress can
complete the bill by mid-May.
 
We hope to have a more thorough report in the June E-bulletin.
 
- - - - - - - -
You can access past E-bulletins on the National Wildlife Refuge Association
(NWRA) website:
http://www.refugenet.org/birding/birding5.html
  and on the birding pages for Steiner Binoculars
http://www.steiner-birding.com/bulletin.html
                                    
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                        OR
            
            Paul J. Baicich 
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            <> 
                                    
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